Pituitary carcinomas are rare and aggressive neoplasms that despite current treatment regimens continue to have a poor prognosis. Adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) pituitary tumors have been shown to alter their clinical manifestations with conversion to Cushing's disease and silent types. The purpose of this paper is to present the first documented case of an ACTH secreting pituitary adenoma with Cushing's disease that differentiated into a silent corticotroph pituitary carcinoma with metastases to distant sites in the central nervous system (CNS)...

Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) degrades epoxides of fatty acids including epoxyeicosatrienoic acid isomers (EETs), which are produced as metabolites of the cytochrome P450 branch of the arachidonic acid pathway. EETs exert a variety of largely beneficial effects in the context of inflammation and vascular regulation. sEH inhibition is shown to be therapeutic in several cardiovascular and renal disorders, as well as in peripheral analgesia, via the increased availability of anti-inflammatory EETs. The success of sEH inhibitors in peripheral systems suggests their potential in targeting inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS) disorders...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Autoinflammatory diseases (AIDs) constitute several disorders that share similar characteristics, clinical features, disease course, and prognosis. They are characterized by the presence of recurrent episodes of unprovoked inflammation due to dysregulated innate immune system in the absence of autoantibodies or infections. AIDs include periodic fever syndromes and other less commonly growing list of syndromes. In this review, vasculitis associated with different AIDs will be highlighted...

Several antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of bipolar disorder (valproic acid, divalproex, lamotrigine, carbamazepine) and some cutaneous neuropathic pain syndromes (carbamazepine, gabapentin, pregabalin). The AEDs may be effective in the management of (1) chronic pruritus, including pruritus due systemic disease, including uremia, neuropathic pain, neuropathic pruritus, and complex cutaneous sensory syndromes, especially where central nervous system (CNS) sensitization plays a role; (2) management of emotional dysregulation and the resultant repetitive self-excoriation or other cutaneous self-injury in patients who repetitively stimulate or manipulate their integument to regulate emotions (prurigo nodularis, lichen simplex chronicus, skin picking disorder, trichotillomania); (3) management of dermatologic clinical manifestations associated with autonomic nervous system activation (hyperhidrosis, urticaria, flushing; these often occur in conjunction with psychiatric disorders with prominent autonomic activation and dysregulation, eg, social anxiety disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder); and (4) when certain anticonvulsants have a direct therapeutic effect (eg, in psoriasis); currently the use of AEDs for such cases is largely experimental...

First described clinically in 1906, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease and form of dementia worldwide. Despite its prevalence, only five therapies are currently approved for AD, all dealing with the symptoms rather than the underlying causes of the disease. A multitude of experimental evidence has suggested that the once thought inconsequential process of neuroinflammation does, in fact, contribute to the AD pathogenesis. One such central nervous system (CNS) cell type critical to this process are microglia...

CircRNAs are a new class of covalently closed transcripts that are produced via back-splicing. These molecules have been identified in organisms ranging from worm to plants. Research on circRNAs is an active area because of their diverse roles in health and in diseases. Their circularity makes them resistant to degradation thus they hold great promise as unique biomarkers. We believe that further work on their applications could help in developing them as "first-in-class" diagnostics, therapeutics, and prognostic targets for eye conditions...

Microglia are engineers of the CNS both in health and disease. In addition to the canonical immunological roles of clearing damaging entities and limiting the spread of toxicity and death, microglia remodel the CNS throughout life. While they have been extensively studied in disease and injury, due to their highly variable functions, their precise role in these contexts still remains uncertain. Over the last decade we have greatly expanded our understanding of microglial function, including their essential homeostatic roles during development...

The communication between the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system (CNS) allows for certain peptide hormones to influence neurocognitive function. Ghrelin, also known as the 'hunger hormone,' has the unique ability to enter the CNS and interact with the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R) within the hippocampus. Upon interaction with ghrelin, a conformational change in the receptor causes an increase in transcription factors to foster a wide array of physiologic changes in response to caloric deprivation...

A poorly feeding neonate presents the clinician with a diagnostic challenge. Feeding difficulties and irritability may be due to sepsis, congenital heart disease, inborn errors of metabolism, non-accidental head trauma, as well as a vast variety of other pathologies. Teratomas are rare pediatric tumors that can occasionally present in the immediate neonatal period and can manifest in the infant's central nervous system (CNS) with non-specific symptoms of poor feeding, lethargy, and somnolence. Operative resection remains the cornerstone of treatment; however, there is no well-defined role for adjuvant chemotherapy or radiation in these treatments...

The increasing lifespan in developed countries results in age-associated chronic diseases. Biological aging is a complex process associated with accumulated cellular damage by environmental or genetic factors with increasing age. Aging results in marked changes in brain structure and function. Age-related neurodegenerative diseases and disorders (NDDs) represent an ever-growing socioeconomic challenge and lead to an overall reduction in quality of life around the world. Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are most common degenerative neurological disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) in aging process...

The bidirectional communication between the central nervous system (CNS) and the gut microbiota plays a pivotal role in human health. Increasing numbers of studies suggest that the gut microbiota can influence the brain and behavior of patients. Various metabolites secreted by the gut microbiota can affect the cognitive ability of patients diagnosed with neurodegenerative diseases. Nearly one in every ten Korean senior citizens suffers from Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of dementia. This review highlights the impact of metabolites from the gut microbiota on communication pathways between the brain and gut, as well as the neuroinflammatory roles they may have in AD patients...

Neurocognitive impairments associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection remain a considerable health issue for almost half the people living with HIV, despite progress in HIV treatment through combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). The pathogenesis and risk factors of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) are still incompletely understood. This is partly due to the complexity of HAND diagnostics, as phenotypes present with high variability and change over time. Our current understanding is that HIV enters the central nervous system (CNS) during infection, persisting and replicating in resident immune and supporting cells, with the subsequent host immune response and inflammation likely adding to the development of HAND...

Pediatric Central Nervous System (CNS) neoplasms are the second most prevalent tumors of childhood. Further on, prognosis of this type of neoplasms still remain poor and the comprehension of the etiology and pathogenesis of the disease still remains scarce. Several reports have identified microRNAs as significant molecules in the development of central nervous system tumors and propose that they might compose key molecules underlying oncogenesis. In a previous study we have identified several miRNAs, common to different subtypes of pediatric embryonal CNS malignancies as well as, we have identified miRNAs that manifest significant dynamics with respect to their expression and the neoplasmatic subtype...

Transplantation of cells into central nervous system (CNS) shows a potential for treatment of post-traumatic and neurodegenerative diseases. Cadaver-derived neural cells can help reducing deficit of allogeneic material ready for transplantation. In this study we analyze post-mortal survival of spinal cord neural cells. Maximal time when alive neuronal cells can be recovered form spinal cord of the animals was determined as 56hr for human-size animal and 18hr for rat. Cells with surface expression of ganglioside GD2 and antigen CD24 constituted up to one percent of all recovered alive cells in earlier samples with time dependent decline in percentage...

Mushroom poisoning is a significant and increasing form of toxin-induced-disease. Existing classifications of mushroom poisoning do not include more recently described new syndromes of mushroom poisoning and this can impede the diagnostic process. We reviewed the literature on mushroom poisoning, concentrating on the period since the current major classification published in 1994, to identify all new syndromes of poisoning and organise them into a new integrated classification, supported by a new diagnostic algorithm...

The discovery of D1 subtype-selective agonists with drug-like properties has been an enduring challenge for the greater part of 40 years. All known D1-selective agonists are catecholamines which bring about receptor desensitization and undergo rapid metabolism thus limiting their utility as a therapeutic for chronic illness such as Schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. Our high-throughput screening efforts on D1 yielded a single non-catecholamine hit, PF-4211 (6) that was developed into a series of potent D1 receptor agonist leads with high oral bioavailability and CNS penetration...

Type 3 diabetes (T3D) is chronic brain insulin resistant state which has shared pathology with sporadic Alzheimer's disease (sAD). Insulin signaling is a highly conserved pathway in the living systems that orchestrate cell growth, repair, maintenance, energy homeostasis and reproduction. Although insulin is primarily studied as a key molecule in diabetes mellitus, its role has recently been implicated in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. Severe brain complications are observed in diabetic patients and metabolically compromised brain status is evident in AD patients...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that regulate post-transcriptional gene expression. Recent studies have shown that human disease states correlate with measurable differences in the level of circulating miRNAs relative to healthy controls. Thus, there is great interest in developing clinical miRNA assays as diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers for diseases, and as surrogate measures for therapeutic outcomes. Our studies have focused on miRNAs in human cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) as biomarkers for central nervous system (CNS) diseases...

The glymphatic system has emerged as an important player in central nervous system (CNS) diseases, by regulating the vasculature impairment, effectively controlling the clearance of toxic peptides, modulating activity of astrocytes, and being involved in the circulation of neurotransmitters in the brain. Recently, several studies have indicated decreased activity of the glymphatic pathway under diabetes conditions such as in insulin resistance and hyperglycemia. Furthermore, diabetes leads to the disruption of the blood-brain barrier and decrease of apolipoprotein E (APOE) expression and the secretion of norepinephrine in the brain, involving the impairment of the glymphatic pathway and ultimately resulting in cognitive decline...